 The Italian Unification or Italian Risorgimento is
known as the chain of political and military events
that produced a united Italian peninsula under the
Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
Five Stages
Pre-Revolutionary
Revolutionary
Cavour’s Policy and the Role of Piedmont
Garibaldi’s Campaign in Southern Italy
Creation of the Italian Kingdom
Pre-Revolutionary Phase
After the Napoleonic Wars and Napoleon Bonaparte’s
second defeat, the major powers that has resisted met
at a conference called the Congress of Vienna in 1815
 Agenda: limit France’s Power, balance of power (no
nation too strong), divide up territory conquered by
Napoleon
 The topic of discussion was to limit France’s power, set
limits on nations so no one nation become too strong,
and divide up the territory conquered up by Napoleon.
 Italian Peninsula returned to Austria, which controlled
many of the Italian states
 Few independant states – Kingdom of Sardinia, which
controlled Piedmont, Savoy, Nice and Genoa
 In its negotiations, the congress returned domination of
the Italian Peninsula to Austria. Austria now occupied
Lombardy and Venice and had considerable influence on
other Italian states. One of the few places of independence
was the Kingdom of Sardinia, which now controlled
Piedmont, Nice, Savoy and Genoa.
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 Some of the things that conflicted and interfered with
the unification process were: Austrian control of
Lombardy and Venice, several independent Italian
states, the autonomy of the Papal States, and the
limited power and influence of Italian leaders
Revolutionary Phase:
During first half of 19th C, only very educated wanted
unification
 The masses showed no concern.
 At first, only wanted more rights from govt
 But they became more revn
 By 1820, Carbonari involved in many failed revolutions
against Italian states
 Austrian Empire crushed all of them
 However, the people with a passion for unification
started to form secret societies, namely the Carbonari.
Although at first, they only demanded more rights
from their respective government, the cause began to
grow.
 By 1820, the Carbonari were involved in numerous
failed revolutions against the Kingdom of Two Sicilies,
the Kingdom of Sardinia, Bolonga, and other Italian
states. However, the Austrian Empire crushed all of
these revolutions; thus leading to more resentment
from the Italians.
 Soul and spirit of Carbonari and revns was Giuseppe
Mazzini
 Wanted a united Italy with republican govt
 He popularized the movement by creating ‘Young
Italy’, which spread ideas of unification
 1848, revolutions in Europe, some reforms, but not
enough
 The revolution also occurred in the Kingdom of Two
Sicilies were the king signed a constitution.
 In the Papal States, radical took over Rome, causing the
Pope to flee.
 In the absence of the pope, Garibaldi and Mazzini created a
republic called the Roman Republic.
 In Piedmont, after the insistence of nationals, the King
Charles Albert was sent to Lombardy in their fight for
freedom from Austrian rule.
 1848 revolutions crushed
 1849, France sent troops to Rome, and destroyed the
short lived Roman Republic
 Piedmont lost to Austria, and the King was forced to
abdicate, causing his son Victor Emanuel II to become
King in 1849
 Unification of Italy seemed far off
 But, a turning point – Count Cavour was appointed
prime minister of Piedmont in 1852
 Italy would never be the same
Cavour’s Policy and the Role of
Piedmont
By the use of bargaining, putting great powers against
each other, war, and political cunning, Cavour was able
to unite Italy in a short time.
 Piedmont a small state – but it had considerable influence
due to its military strength
 Also, Victor Emmanuel ruled with parliament, which
created stability
 Cavour wanted a strong state ie Piedmont, to lead the
unification
 And Piedmont can only become strong with railroads,
economic freedom, stable finances, and a higher standard
of living.
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Cavour needed an ally – France
Got Napoleon III on his side, since they both hated Austria
Napoleon wanted a liberated Italy
To seal the deal of this partnership, both leaders met secretly at
Plombieres, a French spa. Piedmont would stir up trouble in one
of the territories controlled by Austria, thus forcing Austria to go
to war against Piedmont. France would help Piedmont in
exchange for Nice and Savoy.
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In April 1859, war broke out between Piedmont and Austria.
France and Piedmont did well won battles at Magenta and Solferino
Prussian mobilized in defence of Austria
Nap scared, signed a peace with Austria, angered Cavour
Piedmont received Lombardy from Austria as a result of the war. After
the war and the political maneuvering, Piedmont had greatly increased
its size. However, Garibaldi’s campaign in southern Italy would more
than double the size of the kingdom
Garibaldi’s Campaign in Southern
Italy
If Mazzini was the soul of the unification process, then Garibaldi was the hero
He recruited soldiers from Genoa to go to Sicily
The expedition of soldiers was an instant hit
Garibaldi’s red shirts had tremendous success
He wanted Rome, but this worried Cavour
Cavour like a fox, started uprisings in papal states, and sent Piedmonts army to stop it
1860, 2/3 of papal states joined piedmont, and rome was left alone
Him and his troops marched south
Sept 18, Garibaldi gave up command of his army, shook hands with Victor Emmanuel – unity
of Kingdom of Italy in 1861
Creation of the Italian
Kingdom
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Although the Kingdom was formed, it did not include all of Italy
Rome and Venetia missing
Rome under control of France, Venetia was Austrias
1866, Seven Weeks war with Aust/Prussia
Austria promised Venetia if Italy remained neutral, Prussia
promised it if they joined prussia
 Italy joined prussia, and they won
 In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War occurred between
France and Germany and Napoleon III was forced to
pull the French troops from Rome to aid the war effort.
While Rome and the remaining Papal States remained
unprotected, Italian troops marched in unopposed. In
October 1870 Rome voted to join the union and in July
1871, it became the capital.
 In the end, Cavour, Garibaldi, and Mazzini became the
founding fathers of a nation and were immortalized.